“There’s rumours that he’ll play 48, and I know he’s capable of it,” Irving said.

No offence to the 24-year-old understudy, but the Flames’ playoff aspirations hinge entirely on the performance of their Gumby-like starting goaltender.

Besides the Stampede, the longest-running tradition in Calgary is the annual debate over how many starts Kiprusoff can handle, and new head coach Bob Hartley certainly wasn’t willing to put a number on it after Friday’s practice, the second-to-last skate before the puck drops on a 48-game sprint.

“The only thing I can tell you about the goaltending is that Kipper is starting on Sunday,” Hartley told a throng of reporters. “That’s a scoop.”

No, that’s always been a certainty.

Barring disaster in Sunday’s season-opener against the San Jose Sharks at the Saddledome (4 p.m. SNWest), expect to see Kiprusoff back between the pipes for Monday’s meeting with the Anaheim Ducks.

And Wednesday’s road date with the Vancouver Canucks.

And Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada showdown against the Edmonton Oilers.

And ... well, you get the idea.

“We had a pretty good practice today and Kipper comes to me and says, ‘I want more shots,’ ” Hartley said. “This guy is unbelievable. He reminds me a lot of Patrick Roy. Patrick Roy, as soon as practice was over, he would stay and he would want more shots. And Kipper came to us and he said, ‘I need more shots. I want more shots.’

“The guy is a thoroughbred, and you know what thoroughbreds like to do. They don’t like to sit in the stable.”

The 36-year-old Kiprusoff raised an eyebrow when he heard about the race-horse reference, but the comparisons to Roy might not be far off.

In 1995, the only previous time the NHL schedule was shortened to 48 games due to a labour squabble, St. Patrick made 43 starts for the Montreal Canadiens. That was tied for the league lead with Flames netminder Trevor Kidd, who had one of his best statistical seasons during the 48-game campaign.

Thanks in large part to Kidd, the Flames finished second in the Western Conference that winter.

Second seems like a longshot this season but if anybody can carry this team to a playoff berth, it’s Kiprusoff.

“I’m just ready for the first one,” Kiprusoff said with a shrug.

Irving insisted he’ll be ready, too, although it’s impossible to predict when he’ll be in the net.

After falling to a third-string role with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat during the lockout, he won’t be complaining about sidekick status in Calgary.

“Nobody wants to do what I did in Abbotsford. That’s not fun,” Irving said. “I found myself in the stands more often than not. I didn’t think I deserved it, but it was the coaches’ decision.

“I’m prepared for my job now, and I’m going to do everything I can to win games when I’m counted on.”

It’s opening night of the new campaign and a 19-year-old kid has just racked up four goals in an astonishing introduction for the Toronto Maple Leafs, becoming the first sharpshooter in the NHL’s modern era to one-up a hat-trick in his first skate at hockey’s highest level.